2015

Millennium:	3rd millennium
Centuries:	20th century – 21st century – 22nd century
Decades:	1980s  1990s  2000s  – 2010s –  2020s  2030s  2040s
Years:	2012 2013 2014 – 2015 – 2016 2017 2018

2015 by topic:

News by month

Jan – Feb – Mar – Apr – May – Jun Jul – Aug – Sep – Oct – Nov – Dec

Arts

Architecture – Comics – Film – Home video – Literature (Poetry) – Music (Country, Metal, UK) – Radio – Television – Video gaming

Politics

Elections – Int'l leaders – State leaders – Sovereign states

Science and technology

Archaeology – Aviation – Birding/Ornithology – Meteorology – Palaeontology – Rail transport – Spaceflight

Sports

Athletics (Track and Field) – Australian Football League – Baseball – Basketball – Football (soccer) – Cricket – Ice Hockey – Motorsport – Road cycling (men, women) – Tennis – Rugby league

By place

Algeria – Argentina – Australia – Bangladesh - Belgium - Brazil – Canada – People's Republic of China – Costa Rica – Denmark – El Salvador – Egypt – European Union – France – Georgia – Germany – Ghana – Hungary – India – Iraq – Iran – Ireland – Israel – Italy – Japan – Kenya – Latvia – Lithuania – Luxembourg – Malaysia – Mexico – Moldova – New Zealand – Norway – Pakistan – Palestinian territories – Philippines – Poland – Romania – Russia – Serbia – Singapore – South Africa – South Korea – Spain – Sri Lanka – Turkey – United Arab Emirates – United Kingdom – United States

Other topics

Awards – Law – Religious leaders

Birth and death categories

Births – Deaths

Establishments and disestablishments categories

Establishments – Disestablishments

Works and introductions categories

Works – Introductions Works entering the public domain

2015 in other calendars

Gregorian calendar	2015 MMXV
Ab urbe condita	2768
Armenian calendar	1464 ԹՎ ՌՆԿԴ
Assyrian calendar	6765
Bahá'í calendar	171–172
Bengali calendar	1422
Berber calendar	2965
British Regnal year	63 Eliz. 2 – 64 Eliz. 2
Buddhist calendar	2559
Burmese calendar	1377
Byzantine calendar	7523–7524
Chinese calendar	甲午年 (Wood Horse) 4711 or 4651     — to — 乙未年 (Wood Goat) 4712 or 4652
Coptic calendar	1731–1732
Discordian calendar	3181
Ethiopian calendar	2007–2008
Hebrew calendar	5775–5776
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	2071–2072
- Shaka Samvat	1937–1938
- Kali Yuga	5116–5117
Holocene calendar	12015
Igbo calendar	1015–1016
Iranian calendar	1393–1394
Islamic calendar	1436–1437
Japanese calendar	Heisei 27 (平成２７年)
Juche calendar	104
Julian calendar	Gregorian minus 13 days
Korean calendar	4348
Minguo calendar	ROC 104 民國104年
Thai solar calendar	2558
Unix time	1420070400–1451606399

2015 (MMXV) is the current year, and is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar (dominical letter D), the 2015th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 15th year of the 3rd millennium, the 15th year of the 21st century, and the 6th year of the 2010s decade.

2015 has been designated the International Year of Light and the International Year of Soils by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Events

January

• January 1
  • The Eurasian Economic Union comes into effect, creating a political and economic union between Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
  • Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes the nineteenth Eurozone country.
• January 3–7 – A series of massacres in Baga, Nigeria and surrounding villages by Boko Haram killed more than 2000 people.
• January 15 – The Swiss National Bank abandons the cap on the franc's value relative to the euro, causing turmoil in international financial markets.
• January 22 – After Houthi forces seize the presidential palace, Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi resigns after months of unrest.

February

• February 12
  • Leaders from Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France reach an agreement on the conflict in eastern Ukraine that includes a ceasefire and withdrawal of heavy weapons. However, several days later, the Ukrainian government and pro-Russian rebels claim that, within its first day, the ceasefire was broken 139 times, as both sides failed to withdraw their heavy weapons and fighting had continued.
  • The United Nations Security Council adopts Resolution 2199 to combat terrorism.
• February 16 – The Egyptian military begins conducting airstrikes against a branch of the Islamic militant group ISIL in Libya in retaliation for the group's beheading of over a dozen Egyptian Christians.

March

• March 5–8 – The ancient city sites of Nimrud, Hatra and Dur-Sharrukin in Iraq are demolished by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
• March 6 – NASA's Dawn probe enters orbit around Ceres, becoming the first spacecraft to visit a dwarf planet.
• March 12 – The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant becomes allies with fellow jihadist group Boko Haram, effectively annexing the group.
• March 24 – An Airbus A320-211 operated by Germanwings crashes in the French Alps, killing all 150 on board.
• March 25 – A Saudi Arabia-led coalition of Arab countries starts a military intervention in Yemen in order to uphold the Yemeni government in its fight against the Houthis' southern offensive.

April

• April 2 – 148 people are killed, the majority students, in a mass shooting at the Garissa University College in Kenya, perpetrated by the militant terrorist organization Al-Shabaab.

Predicted and scheduled events

May

• May 1–October 31 – Expo 2015 will be held in Milan, Italy.

July

• July 14 – NASA's New Horizons spacecraft is expected to fly by Pluto and Charon and explore the area for five months, until the distance becomes too great. New Horizons will then enter the Kuiper belt and eventually leave the Solar System.

September

• The ESA and NASA plan to launch the LISA Pathfinder spacecraft; a gravity research probe and technology testbed.

Date unknown

• The United States and South Korea will dissolve the post-Korean War Combined Forces Command.

Deaths

Main article: Deaths in 2015

Further information: Category:2015 deaths

January

Mario Cuomo

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia

Zhelyu Zhelev

Richard von Weizsäcker

• January 1
  • Ulrich Beck, German sociologist (b. 1944)
  • Mario Cuomo, American politician (b. 1932)
  • Omar Karami, 58th Prime Minister of Lebanon (b. 1934)
  • Boris Morukov, Russian astronaut (b. 1950)
• January 3 – Edward Brooke, American politician (b. 1919)
• January 4 – Pino Daniele, Italian singer, songwriter, and guitarist (b. 1955)
• January 5 – Jean-Pierre Beltoise, French race car driver (b. 1937)
• January 6 – Vlastimil Bubník, Czech ice hockey player and footballer (b. 1931)
• January 7
  • Tadeusz Konwicki, Polish writer and film director (b. 1926)
  • Rod Taylor, Australian actor (b. 1930)
• January 8 – Andraé Crouch, American singer, songwriter, and pastor (b. 1942)
• January 9 – Józef Oleksy, 7th Prime Minister of Poland (b. 1946)
• January 10 – Francesco Rosi, Italian film director (b. 1922)
• January 11
  • Jenő Buzánszky, Hungarian footballer (b. 1925)
  • Anita Ekberg, Swedish actress (b. 1931)
• January 12 – Elena Obraztsova, Russian opera singer (b. 1939)
• January 17 – Faten Hamama, Egyptian actress (b. 1931)
• January 20
  • Edgar Froese, German musician (b. 1944)
  • Hitoshi Saito, Japanese judoka (b. 1961)
• January 21 – Leon Brittan, British politician (b. 1939)
• January 23 – King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia (b. 1924)
• January 24 – Otto Carius, German WWII tank commander (b. 1922)
• January 25 – Demis Roussos, Greek singer (b. 1946)
• January 27 – Charles Hard Townes, American Nobel physicist (b. 1915)
• January 28 – Yves Chauvin, French Nobel chemist (b. 1930)
• January 29 – Colleen McCullough, Australian writer (b. 1937)
• January 30
  • Carl Djerassi, American chemist (b. 1923)
  • Geraldine McEwan, British actress (b. 1932)
  • Zhelyu Zhelev, 1st President of Bulgaria (b. 1935)
• January 31
  • Lizabeth Scott, American actress (b. 1922)
  • Richard von Weizsäcker, President of Germany (b. 1920)

February

Udo Lattek

André Brink

Leonard Nimoy

• February 1
  • Aldo Ciccolini, Italian-born French pianist (b. 1925)
  • Udo Lattek, German footballer and coach (b. 1935)
• February 3 – Martin Gilbert, English historian (b. 1936)
• February 5
  • Henri Coppens, Belgian footballer and coach (b. 1930)
  • Val Logsdon Fitch, American Nobel physicist (b. 1923)
• February 6
  • André Brink, South African writer (b. 1935)
  • Assia Djebar, Algerian writer (b. 1936)
• February 7 – Marshall Rosenberg, American psychologist and writer (b. 1934)
• February 10 – Karl Josef Becker, German cardinal (b. 1928)
• February 12 – Movita Castaneda, American actress (b. 1916)
• February 14
  • Michele Ferrero, Italian businessman (b. 1925)
  • Louis Jourdan, French actor (b. 1921)
  • Franjo Mihalić, Croatian-Serbian athlete and coach (b. 1920)
  • Wim Ruska, Dutch wrestler and martial artist (b. 1940)
• February 16
  • Lesley Gore, American singer (b. 1946)
  • Lorena Rojas, Mexican actress (b. 1971)
• February 18 – Claude Criquielion, Belgian road bicycle racer (b. 1957)
• February 21
  • Aleksei Gubarev, Russian cosmonaut (b. 1931)
  • Clark Terry, American jazz trumpeter and fugelhornist (b. 1920)
• February 27
  • Boris Nemtsov, Russian politician (b. 1959)
  • Leonard Nimoy, American actor (b. 1931)
• February 28
  • Yaşar Kemal, Turkish author (b. 1923)
  • Anthony Mason, American basketball player (b. 1966)

March

Sam Simon

Terry Pratchett

Malcolm Fraser

Lee Kuan Yew

• March 1
  • Joshua Fishman, American linguist (b. 1926)
  • Wolfram Wuttke, German footballer (b. 1961)
• March 2 – Dave Mackay, Scottish footballer and coach (b. 1934)
• March 5 – Edward Egan, American cardinal (b. 1932)
• March 7 – Yoshihiro Tatsumi, Japanese manga artist (b. 1935)
• March 8 – Sam Simon, American producer and philanthropist (b. 1955)
• March 9
  • Camille Muffat, French swimmer (b. 1989)
  • Frei Otto, German architect (b. 1925)
  • Alexis Vastine, French boxer (b. 1986)
• March 11 –Walter Burkert, German academic and writer (b. 1931)
• March 12
  • Michael Graves, American architect (b. 1934)
  • Terry Pratchett, English writer (b. 1948)
• March 13 – Daevid Allen, Australian musician (b. 1938)
• March 14 – Valentin Rasputin, Russian writer (b. 1937)
• March 15
  • Xu Caihou, Chinese army general (b. 1943)
  • Mike Porcaro, American bass guitarist (b. 1955)
• March 16 – Andy Fraser, English songwriter and bass guitarist (b. 1952)
• March 19 – Gerda van der Kade-Koudijs, Dutch athlete (b. 1923)
• March 20 – Malcolm Fraser, 22nd Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1930)
• March 21
  • Hans Erni, Swiss artist (b. 1909)
  • Jørgen Ingmann, Danish musician (b. 1925)
  • Alberta Watson, Canadian actress (b. 1955)
• March 23 – Lee Kuan Yew, 1st Prime Minister of Singapore (b. 1923)
• March 26
  • Dinkha IV, Iraqi patriarch (b. 1935)
  • Tomas Tranströmer, Swedish Nobel poet and translator (b. 1931)
• March 27 – Olga Syahputra, Indonesian actor and singer (b. 1983)
• March 29 – Miroslav Ondříček, Czech cinematographer (b. 1934)
• March 30 – Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld, Dutch astronomer (b. 1921)

April

• April 1 – Cynthia Lennon, British former wife of John Lennon (b. 1939)
• April 2 – Manoel de Oliveira, Portuguese film director and screenwriter (b. 1908)
• April 4 – Klaus Rifbjerg, Danish author (b. 1931)
• April 6 – James Best, American actor (b. 1926)
• April 8 – Jean-Claude Turcotte, Canadian cardinal (b. 1936)

In fiction

Main article: List of works of fiction set in 2015

See also

• List of international years

External links

• Media related to 2015 at Wikimedia Commons